Room cooler



C. F. WHEATON nooM cool-ER Filed Sept. 29, 1937 IIN w /ff June 2l, 1938.

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Patented June 2l, 1938 UNITED STATES;

PATENT oFFlcE BOOM COOLER Carlos F. Wheaton, Minneapolis, Minn.

Application September 29, 1937, Serial No. 166,365 v 15 claims. (c1. ca -13s) My present invention has for-its object to provide a simple and highly eillcientroom cooler that can be manufactured at Aa. relatively small cost.

5 To increase the eiliciency of the improved room cooler, 1 provide means for re-circulating air therein, as will hereinafter appear. In connection with this cooler, I embody therein a storage chamber .which acts as an air rre-circulating chamber. d

To the above end, generally stated, the invention consists ofthe novel devices and combination of devices hereinafterdescribed and defined in thev claims.

l5 In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view principally in vertical section taken substantially on'the line I--I of Fig. 2;

` Fig. 2 is a view in' transverse vertical section taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view principally in transversevertical section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1;

and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail view showing the use of a. single fan for supplying air'to the cooler and re-circulating the same.

Referring first to the invention shown in Figs.

l to 3, inclusive, the numeral 5 indicates an insulated portable cabinet 'havlng at'one end a heat exchange compartmentwhich occupies the greater' part of the cabinet, and also having atits other end a storage chamber l, which acts also as an air recirculating chamber. Within the cabinet 5, below the storage chamber 'I is a fan housing 8.' The cabinet 5 has door openings 9 and III, the former of which aiords access to the compartment B, and the latter to a storage 40 chamber 1. These door openings 9 and I0 are normally closed by doors Il and I2, respectively, and which doors are insulated in the same manner as the walls of the cabinet 5. Said cabinet 51s mounted-on casters Il to permit easy movement thereof from place to place.

Ice is used as a cooling medium for the improved room cooler and this ice is supplemented by the water from the melted ice.

Removably mounted in the compartment 6 is a plurality of individual heat exchangers I4, as

shown six, each of which is a metallicbucketlike ice container. Inv each heat exchanger Il is a cake of ice .r and water y. These heat ex- .'changers Il are, as shown, arranged in lower,

upper and intermediate pairs, and each pair is movement through the respective door opening 9. Said rails I5 are, asshown, angle bars having their vertical flanges turned downwardly and secured to the sides of the cabinet 5, and these 6 horizontal ilanges are turned toward each other and slidably support the respective heat ex-l changers I4 thereon.

The width of the heat exchangers I4 is such as to leave vertical air spaces between the sides 10 of said heat exchangers and the side walls of the compartment 6. Said heat exchangers I4 are. also horizontally spaced on the guide rails i 5 to leave vertical air spaces between the heat exchangers I4 and the endsof the cabinet 5 15 and also between said heat exchangers. The guide rails I5 support the heat exchangers I4 with horizontarair spaces between the lowermost heat exchangers land the bottom of the compartment. 5, between the uppermost heat. ex- 20 changers and the top of said compartment, and between the several pairs of heat exchangers Il.

In the top of the cabinet Il, substantially directly above the uppermost right-hand heat exchanger Il, is a displaceable cover I6 having a 25 grilled air escape opening I1. An air passageway I9 in the partition I8 between the compartment 8 and the storage chamber 'I permits a flow of air from the compartment 5 into the storage chamber, and it is at this point that the :rn :re-circulation of air starts.

Mounted in the housing 8 are twin fans independently designated by the numerals 20 and 2I, respectively, and driven by a single electric motor- 22 mounted therebetween. It is, of course, 35

understood that the vfans 20 and 2| may be singly and individually driven by an electric motor.

The i'an 20 is constructed and arranged to take air from the room, in which the cooler is 40 placed, through an air intake opening .23, at the bottom oi' said cooler, and discharge the same' into the compartment 8. below the heat exchangers Il, through an opening 24 in the partition Il. A".l'hefan 2l is constructed and arranged to 45 take air from the storage chamber 1, through a duct 25 leading therefrom,.and discharge the same into the compartment 6 through an openleft-hand corneao! the compartment l isa de- 55s lector 28 constructed and arranged to direct part of the upwardly moving air horizontally over the uppermost heat exchangers I4 and toward the air escape opening I1 and the air passageway I9. Obviously, from the time air is discharged into the compartment 6 to the time it reaches the air escape opening I1 and the air passageway I9, it will have travelled over all four sides and the bottom of each heat exchanger I4, as well as over the ice and water in the open tops thereof.

By varying the speed of the fans 20 and 2|, the volume of air forced over and around the heat exchangers I4 may be varied, at will, to hasten or retard the melting of the ice, to a certain extent, and-thereby change the temperature of the chilled air which escapes from the cooler into the room.

Within the storage chamber 1 are shelves 29 on which bottles or other articles to be kept cool may be placed. By removing the cover I6, a bottle or other article may be placed in the underlying heat exchanger I4 for the purpose of chilling the same.

The mounting of the heat exchangers I4 is such that they can be easily removed from the cooler for the purpose of emptying the water therefrom and then relling with cakes of ice.

Referring now to the invention as shown in Fig. 4, the numerals 30, 3|, and 32 indicate, respectively, the cooler cabinet, its air re-circulating chamber and the motor housing. In this modification, a single fan 33, driven by an electric motor 34, is used for supplying the cooler with air from the outside thereof, and for re-circulating the air in the cooler.

Air is drawn into. the motor housing 32 from outside of the cooler by the fan 33, through an air intake opening 35 in the cabinet 30, and also from the storage chamber 3l through an air intake opening 36 in the bottom of said chamber. This air in the housing 32 is drawn into the fan 33 and discharged thereby into the heat exchanger compartment 31 through an opening 38 in the partition39. It will thus be seen that asingle fan draws part of its air supply from outside of the cooler and part thereof from the storage chamber 3|, and re-circulates part of the air it discharges into the compartment 31 downward through the storage chamber 3I from the air passageway at the upper end thereof.

The above described device is capable of various modifications within the scope of the invention herein disclosed and claimed.

Referring again to the structure shown in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, each heat exchanger I4 is provided with a pair of handles I4 by which it may be carried. At the bottom of the compartment 6 is a normally closed drain 6 for removing condensation accumulated on the bottom of said compartment.

What I claim is:

1. Aroom cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and an air recirculating chamber, a heat exchanger in the form of an ice container in said compartment, said compartment having an air passageway leading to said chamber, a motor-driven fan for taking air from said chamber and discharging the same into said compartment and an air escape port opening out of the cabinet fo-r discharging air cooled in the heat exchanger compartment.

2. A room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and an air recirculating chamber, a heat exchanger in the form of an ice container in said compartment, said compartment having an air passageway leading to said chamber, a motor-driven fan constructed and arranged to take part of its air supply from outside of the cooler and part thereof from the re-circulating chamber and discharge the air into said compartment and an air escape port opening out of the cabinet for discharging air cooled in the heat exchanger compartment.

3. A room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and an air recirculating chamber, a heat exchanger in the form of an ice container in said compartment, said compartment having an air escape opening and'an air passageway leading to said chamber, a motor-driven fan constructed and arranged to take air outside of the cooler and discharge `the same into the compartment, and a second motor-driven fan constructed and arranged to take its air supply from the re-circulating chamber and discharge the same into the compartment.

4. 'I'he structure defined in claim 1 in which air 'discharged by the fan into the compartment is directed under the heat exchanger.

5. A room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and an air recirculating chamber, a plurality of heat exchangers in said cabinet, each of which is in the form of an ice container, said heat exchangers being spaced from the internal surfaces of the compartment and each other for the circulation of air therearound and therebetween, said compartment having an air escape opening and a passageway leading to said chamber, and a motor-driven fan for taking air from said chamber and discharging the same into said compartment.

6. The structure defined in claim 5 in which the heat exchangers are removable from their compartment.

'1. A room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and a storage compartment, said storage compartment affording an air re-circulating chamber, a heat exchanger in said compartment in the form of an ice container, said compartment having an air escape opening and an air passageway leading to said chamber, and a motor-driven fan for taking air from said chamber and discharging the same into said compartment.

8. A room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and an air recirculating chamber, a heat exchanger in the compartment in the form of an ice container, said compartment having an air escape opening and an air pasageway leading to said chamber, a motor-driven fan for taking air from said chamber and discharging the same into said compartment, and a defiector for directing air over the heat exchanger and toward the air passageway.

9. A room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and an air recirculating chamber, upper and lower pairs ci' heat exchangers in said cabinet, each of which is in the form of an ice container, said pairs of heat exchangers being spaced, the one above the other, said compartment having an air escape opening and an air passageway leading to said chamber, a motor-driven fan for taking air from said chamber and discharging the same into said compartment, and two deflectors, one on each of opposite sides of said compartment for directing air in opposite directions between the upper and lower pairs of heat exchangers.

10. A portable room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and an air re-circulating chamber, a heat exchanger in the form of an ice container in said compartment, said compartment having an air passageway leading to said chamber, means for taking air. from the compartment, re-circulating said air through the chamber and returning the same to the compartment and an air escape port opening out of the cabinet for discharging air cooled in the heat exchanger compartment.'

11. The structure dened in claim 10 in which the room cooler has a plurality of heat exchangers spaced from the internal surfaces of the compartment and from each other for the cir- -cu1ation of air therearound.

12. A portable room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and a storage chamber, a heat exchanger in the form `of an ice container in 'said compartment, said compartment having an air escape opening and an air passageway leading to said chamber, and means for taking air from said compartment, recirculating said air through the chamber, and returning the same ,to the compartment.

13: The structure `defined in claim 12in which the room cooler has a plurality of removable heat exchangers spaced. from the internal surfaces of said compartment and each other for the circulation of air therearound. i

14.' A portable room cooler comprising a cabinet having a heat exchanger compartment and' a storage chamber, a plurality of removable heat `exchangers,each of which is in the form of an exchangers, each of which is in the form. of an ice container in/the compartment, said compartment having an air escape opening and an air passageway leading to the chamber, a motordriven fan constructed and arrang'ed to take air outside of the cooler and discharge the same intoV the compartment," and a. second motordriven fan constructed and larranged to take its air supply from the storage chamber and discharge the same into the compartment.

cAaLos F..wr1EA'roN. 

